I refer to the letter Islamisation of national schools - a parent's view . I agree with the writer. The growing Islamic influence in our national schools is a cause of great concern to all non- Muslim parents with young school going children.

It would seem that the upper echelons in the Ministry of Education are aware of these goings-on in government schools and this is not a new phenomenon.

However, the ministry has done very little to allay the fears of non-Muslim parents despite persistent complaints from them. Neither has the ministry been bold enough to say unequivocally that these goings-on are unhealthy and not conducive to national unity.

Perversely, the ministry's indecisiveness may have been the inspiration for other government schools to carry out similar experiments in their own backyard.

The fact that our leaders continue to be silent on this issue is not helping either. We can do more than just acknowledge the existence of certain sensitive issues, be they in government schools or elsewhere, that continue to bedevil unity and race-relations. We can also do more than pat ourselves in the back for being open and transparent about it.

This year, Malaysia will be half-a-century old. Have we, as a people, also grown up in tandem? Are we mature enough to sit down together to thrash out our differences - difficult as they are - rationally without resorting to name-calling, abuse and threats?

Or will we continue to be silent and suffer in silence? Maybe silence is golden.